A stuffed animal and some flowers are left in the driveway where the shooting occurred on Foulkstone Way. The men often gathered in the garage. A quiet neighborhood in the Glen Cove district of Vallejo, Calif. is in shock after a resident there, Martin Hohenegger shot and killed two friends Wednesday night October 3, 2012.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

A stuffed animal and some flowers are left in the driveway where...

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Jamie Dowd (center) a neighbor of the shooting victims, stops in the driveway where the shooting occurred as her son walks by. A quiet neighborhood in the Glen Cove district of Vallejo, Calif. is in shock after a resident there, Martin Hohenegger shot and killed two friends Wednesday night October 3, 2012.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Jamie Dowd (center) a neighbor of the shooting victims, stops in...

Image 3 of 4

The doorway to the home of Martin Hohenegger on Foulkstone Way. A quiet neighborhood in the Glen Cove district of Vallejo, Calif. is in shock after a resident there, Martin Hohenegger shot and killed two friends Wednesday night October 3, 2012.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

The doorway to the home of Martin Hohenegger on Foulkstone Way. A...

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Jamie Dowd, who was friends with both the victims and the shooter, pauses in her driveway with some flowers she will deliver to the home of one of the victims named Mike. A quiet neighborhood in the Glen Cove district of Vallejo, Calif. is in shock after a resident there, Martin Hohenegger shot and killed two friends Wednesday night October 3, 2012.

A Vallejo man accused of shooting and killing two friends after an argument that neighbors said may have started over politics was charged Friday with two counts of murder in a Solano County courtroom.

Martin Hohenegger, 65, appeared in jail garb and waist-shackles during a brief appearance, but did not enter pleas. The former Marine, who has a lengthy white beard and shaggy gray hair, requested a public defender to represent him.

Outside court, Deputy District Attorney Karen Jensen said she was still reading witness statements and had not determined the cause of the argument that precipitated the fatal shootings.

Police said shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday, Hohenegger got into a heated exchange with Mike Scally, 58, and Doug Kahley, 50, in Scally's garage. After going to his home across the street, Hohenegger returned with a gun and shot both men dead on Scally's front lawn, police said.

Neighbors said the three friends gathered in Scally's garage every day, where they drank, watched sporting events, and served as the jovial hosts at the street's unofficial hangout spot. Bickering was common among the three.

Residents on the 300 block of Foulkstone Way, who were shocked by the killings, said neighbors complained only when the men began to argue loudly at night, which was sometimes over politics.

On Friday, friends and strangers continued to leave flowers and stuffed animals outside Scally's home, where he lived with his wife.

Hohenegger remains in the Solano County Jail with no bail set. He is next due in court on Friday to enter pleas.